D i ing commi men o sus ainable ood policies wi hin he amewo k
o Ame ican and Eu opean die a y guidelines
C is ina Cambeses-F anco ⁎, Sa a González-Ga cía, Gume sindo Feijoo, Ma ía Te esa Mo ei a
CRETUS Cen e, Depa men o Chemical Enginee ing, School o Enginee ing, Uni e sidad de San iago de Compos ela, Rúa Lope Gómez de Ma zoa s/n, 15782 San iago de Compos ela, Spain
HIGHLIGHTS
•Eu opean and Ame ican die a y guide-
lines ha e been e ised om a nu i-
ional and en i onmen al poin o iew.
•The mos plan - ich die a y guidelines
(I alian and Medi e anean) we e he
bes in e ms o ca bon oo p in .
•The wa e oo p in showed a ia ions
associa ed wi h he clima e and p oduc-
ion sys ems o he e e ence coun ies.
•The Medi e anean Die in he Spanish
con ex was he bes in e ms o nu i-
ional alue.
•The lowes o e all nu i ional sco es
co esponded o he Du ch and
Ame ican Die a y Guidelines.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
abs ac a icle in o
A icle his o y:
Recei ed 12 Augus 2021
Recei ed in e ised o m 15 Sep embe 2021
Accep ed 5 Oc obe 2021
A ailable online 12 Oc obe 2021
Edi o : Damia Ba celo
Die and nu i ion a e essen ial ac o s in p omo ing good heal h h oughou li e. Thei ole as de e minan s o
ch onic non-communicable diseases is widely ecognized. Addi ionally, he demand o ood in ol es ele an en-
i onmen al bu dens ha ha e o be aken in o accoun on he way o achie ing he Sus ainable De elopmen
Goals. As an impo an pa o nu i ion policy, ood-based die a y guidelines (FBDGs) ha e been e ised. The key
ques ion is: A e en i onmen al conside a ions being inco po a ed in o hem? To add ess his issue, we modeled
and compa ed bo h he main en i onmen al indica o s in e ms o ca bon oo p in (CF) and wa e oo p in
(WF), and nu i ional quali y (acco ding o he Nu ien Rich Die index, NRD9.3 and a heal h gain sco e) o die a y
guidelines om No he n and Sou he n Eu ope and Ame ica. Pa icula ly, he FBDGs compa ed we e Du ch Die a y
Guidelines (DDG), New No dic Die (NND), Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and Obesi y P e en ion
(NAOS), Medi e anean Die (MD), I alian Die a y Guidelines (IDG) and Ame ican Die a y Guidelines (DGA).
The IDG and MD o e ed he bes p ofiles om a clima e change pe spec i e (2.04 and 2.21 kgCO
2
eq·day
−1
).
O e all, DGA had he highes CF (2.98 kgCO
2
eq·day
−1
). WF p esen ed g ea e fluc ua ions, no only due o
daily- ecommendedamoun s, bu also because o di e en clima e condi ions and p oduc ion sys ems o he e -
e ence coun ies. Hence, WF anged om 1760 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
in IDG o 3181 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
in NAOS.
Finally, he nu i ional alue o MD, which had he highes NRD9.3 (477) and heal h gain sco e (178), has been
demons a ed when he compa ison was made wi h DDG, he one wi h he lowes heal h gain sco e (97) and
DGA, he wo s in e ms o NRD9.3 (391).
To go ahead o he FBDGs ha be on all dimensions o sus ainabili y, mul i-c i e ia analysis is needed. Nu i ion
and en i onmen al pe o mance a e no he only aspec s o he p oblem; economy and sociocul u al a iables
should be conside ed.
© 2021 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie B.V. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND license (h p://
c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywo ds:
Science-based die a y ecommenda ions
Nu ien ich die sco e
Heal h gain
Ca bon oo p in
Wa e oo p in
Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
⁎Co esponding au ho .
E-mail add ess: c is ina.cambeses. [email protected] (C. Cambeses-F anco).
h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.sci o en .2021.150894
0048-9697/© 2021 The Au ho s. Published by Else ie B.V. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Con en s lis s a ailable a ScienceDi ec
Science o he To al En i onmen
jou nal homepage: www.else ie .com/loca e/sci o en
1. In oduc ion
A s ongscien ific basis suppo s he ac ha mo ing owa ds ecip-
ocal die a y pa e ns ha a e no only heal hy, bu also sus ainable, is
a o dable and wise (EAT-Lance Commission, 2018). Go e nmen s
can ein o ce hei commi men o a g een and heal hy u u e by
s i ing o keep pace wi h he demand o die a y pa e ns in line
wi h his in eg a ed app oach (Bi e al., 2017). Despi e he g owing
e idence o da a,only83 ou o 215 coun ies issued die a y ecommen-
da ions, mainly ocused on he heal h dimension (EAT-Lance Commis-
sion, 2018). The e o e, esea ch on he ex en o which en i onmen al
issues a e being inco po a ed in o na ional ood-based die a y guide-
lines (FBDGs) is a ma e o majo in e es (He o h e al., 2019;
Sp ingmann e al., 2020).
In he Eu opean Region, mo e han hal o adul s a e a ec ed by
weigh p oblems and obesi y (Eu opean Commission, 2020a). Fu he -
mo e, non-communicable diseases - including ca dio ascula diseases,
cance , diabe es and obesi y - cause 70% o all dea hs and 70–80% o
heal hca e cos s in he Eu opean Union (Eu opean Commission,
2020a). Mo eo e , 20–30% o he o al en i onmen al impac s o house-
hold consump ion is associa ed wi h ood consump ion (Tukke e al.,
2006). The e o e, a change in ood sys ems is needed. The FOOD 2030
ini ia i e, in line wi h he Eu opean G een Deal, he Fa m o Fo k s a -
egy and he bio-economy s a egy, emb aces his ans o ma ion wi h
he ambi ion o achie e he ollowing goals: p omo ion o sus ainable
heal hy die s, ci cula i y and esou ce e ficiency, inno a ion and em-
powe men o communi ies (Eu opean Commission, 2018a, 2018b,
2019, 2020b).
FOOD 2030 highligh s as an enable o change he de elopmen o
FBDGs o heal hy, balanced and sus ainable nu i ion (Eu opean Com-
mission, 2020a). These guidelines, such as he Linee guida pe una sana
alimen azione (CREA, 2019) in I aly, he Du ch die a y guidelines
(Heal h Council, 2015) in he Ne he lands o he S a egy o Nu i ion,
Physical Ac i i y and he p e en ion o obesi y - NAOS s a egy in Spain
(Nei a and Onis, 2006), suppo consume s o make be e ood choices
aking in o accoun hei cul u al p e e ences, ea ing habi s and ood
a ailabili y. In he Uni ed S a es, as in Eu opean coun ies, he Depa -
men o Heal h and Human Se ices (HHS) and he Depa men o Ag i-
cul u e (USDA) join ly published he Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans,
which ha e been upda ed e e y 5 yea s since hey we e fi s published
in 1980. The la es edi ion, in addi ion o he goal o p omo ing heal h
and p e en ing ch onic diseases, ma ked o he fi s ime he nu i-
ional needs by all s ages o li e, om childhood o old age (USDA and
HHS, 2020).
The e o e, FBDGs a e an a emp o es ablish a amewo k o ood
and nu i ion se ices, public heal h, ag icul u al policies and consume
educa ion o p omo e heal hy ea ing habi s and con ol die - ela ed dis-
eases (FAO, 2021;WHO, 2014). This analysis b ings addi ional insigh o
he li e a u e in h ee a eas o his field o s udy. Fi s , o da e, ew s ud-
ies ocus on quan i ying he en i onmen al bu dens o di e en FBDGs
wo ldwide, mainly in e ms o GHG emissions. Fo ins ance, Ko acs
e al. (2021) modeled he ca bon oo p in (CF) o he die a y guidelines
om Ge many, India, he Ne he lands, Oman, Thailand, U uguay and
he Uni ed S a es. In ano he s udy, Beh ens e al. (2017) p o ided a
compa ison be ween 37 die a y ecommenda ions om middle- o
high-income na ions in e ms o g eenhouse gases (GHG) emissions,
eu ophica ion and land use.
Howe e , i is ele an o iden i y o he en i onmen al me ics, no
as ex ensi ely s udied o na ional-le el FBDGs,suchas wa e consump-
ion. This pape inco po a es he wa e oo p in (WF) indica o by ol-
lowing he ini ial pa h ma ked by o he au ho s who included he
analysis o WF ela ed o ood consump ion. In his line, Blas e al.
(2016) assessed he WF o wo one-week menus based on an ea lie
e sion o he Ame ican guidelines (USDA, 2016) and on he s udy by
Ha en e al. (2015).Vanham e al. (2018) ound geog aphical di e -
ences be ween he wa e consump ion alues o he F ench, Ge man
and UK die a y ecommenda ions and González-Ga cía e al. (2020)
e alua ed, among o he me ics, he WF o he NAOS, Medi e anean
Die (MD) and he A lan ic die .
Second, se e al s udies ha e been unde aken on he CF assessmen
o p e ious e sions o na ional die a y guidelines. The e o e, Van
Doo en e al. (2014) examined he GHG and land use (LU) o he 2006
e sion o he ecommended Du ch Die a y Guidelines (Heal h
Council,2006)o Pai o i e al. (2015)explo ed heene gyconsump ion
and GHG emission o he MD in he I alian scena io (Minis e o della
Salu e, 2004). This s udy calcula es he CF o he mos upda ed e sions
o he die a y guidelines.
Thi d, we iden i y syne gies be ween he nu i ional, heal h and en-
i onmen al ou comes o he Eu opean and Ame ican guidelines. Al-
hough he closely connec ion be ween hese a eas is cen al o he
p og ess o he Millennium De elopmen Goals, he Sus ainable De el-
opmen Goals and he Decade o Ac ion on Nu i ion (Wille e al.,
2019), i has no ye been ully de eloped in he scien ific li e a u e.
Fo he inclusion o nu i ional and heal h in o ma ion, s akeholde s
need app op ia e me ics such as he Nu ien Rich Die a y sco e-
NRD9.3 (Van Ke nebeek e al., 2014) o he heal h gain sco ed (Van
Doo en e al., 2014). Bo h a e wo nu ien -de i ed me ics, which can
be used in a complemen a y way. They a e based on di e en nu ien s
whose in ake should be p omo ed (e.g., p o ein o fib e) and limi ed
(e.g.,sa u a ed a y acids o ee suga s). The heal h gain sco e also con-
side s ood and ene gy in ake (Van Doo en e al., 2014).
The aim o he p esen wo k is o analyse o he fi s ime he CF and
WF and he nu i ional aspec s (in e ms o wo nu i ional indexes,
NRD 9.3 and a heal h index) o he FBDGs o h ee ep esen a i e e-
gions: No he n Eu ope, Sou he n Eu ope and No h Ame ica. Fo a
b oade pe spec i e, se e al ep esen a i e die a y guidelines om
hese geog aphical a eas ha e been selec ed: he Du ch die a y guide-
lines 2015 (DDG), he I alian die a y guidelines 2016 e ision (IDG),
he die a y guidelines o Ame icans 2020-2025 (DGA), he NAOS s a -
egy in Spain, he New No dic Die (NND) and he Medi e anean Die
(MD). This analysis can be conside ed a s ep o wa d on he oad o
he de elopmen o die a y guidelines ha inco po a e heal h and sus-
ainabili y aspec s and mee he nu i ional needs o consume s.
2. Ma e ials and me hods
2.1. Scope o he ood-based die a y guidelines
The scope o his esea ch is ocused on Wes e n wo ld, whe e he
mode n Wes e n die a y pa e n has gained much popula i y ecen ly,
inc easing he incidence o obesi y, ca dio ascula diseases, cance o
me abolic synd ome among he popula ion, while h ea ening plane-
a y heal h. Ame ica and Eu ope we e he wo geog aphical egions
ha we e chosen as he s udy amewo k. Fo con enience, we classi-
fied he Eu opean die a y guidelines in o wo sub- egions: No he n
Eu opeandSou he n Eu ope. Coun iesclassifiedas Wes e n Eu opeac-
co ding wi h he Uni ed Na ions geoscheme classifica ion, such as The
Ne he lands, we e included in heNo he n Eu ope egion in his s udy.
2.1.1. Ame ica
2.1.1.1. Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans 2020-2025 - DGA. The Na ional
Nu i ion and Rela ed Resea ch Su eillance Ac 1190, he USDA and
he HHS equi e he publica ion o he DGA a leas e e y fi e yea s.
The 2020–2025 edi ion wasbuil upon he 2015 edi ion bu inco po a e
new aspec s in pa allel wi h e ol ing scien ific and medical knowledge.
Fo ins ance, DGA add ess he gene al public, ega dless o hei heal h
s a us; hey emphasize he impo ance o ollowing a heal hy die a y
pa e n asa whole, a he han indi idual oodso nu ien s; and finally,
hey also iden i y nu i ional needs om a li e-cycle app oach. The e-
o e, he nu i ional goals and amoun s o each ood g oup conside ed
in his s udy a e based on his la es e sion (USDA and HHS, 2020).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
2
Acco ding o his e sion, a heal hy die a y pa e n is based on nu ien -
ich oods and be e ages om all ood g oups, including s aple ood
such as ege ables o all ypes, ui s, g ains, dai y, p o ein oods and
oils. The Uni ed S a es was chosen as he e e ence coun y. De ailed in-
o ma ion on he echnical desc ip ion o he die a y scena io designed
is shown in he Supplemen a y Ma e ial 1 (Tables SM1.1-SM1.11).
2.1.2. No he n Eu ope
2.1.2.1. Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 - DDG. The Du ch Heal h Council
pe iodically publishes he DDG, which a e he p oduc o he die a y e-
sea ch on he ela ionship be ween die and i s heal h gains. The fi s
e sion o he guidelines was published in 1986 and p o ided ad ice
only in e ms o nu ien s. Food ecommenda ions we e included in
he second e sion in 2006. The hi d comp ehensi e assessmen was
eleased in 2015. This las epo also eflec s he scien ific de elop-
men s on he die a y pa e ns a ailable o consume s (Heal h Council,
2015). These guidelines be on: Ea mo e plan -based and less animal-
based ood; inco po a e ui s, ege ables, wholemeal b ead, nu s, ew
po ions o dai y and h ee cups o ea o daily ea ing plan; consume le-
gumes and fish weekly; p omo e whole-g ain p oduc s, as well as, liq-
uid cooking a s and ege able oils; limi he consump ion o ed mea ,
suga y d inks, sal and alcohol.
Howe e , he ecommenda ions a e a he b oad and quali a i e
and, in many cases, do no p o e o speci y quan i ies (“ea legumes
weekly”,“limi consump ion o ed mea , in pa icula p ocessed
mea ”). The e o e, o p o ide p ac ical ecommenda ions on daily in-
ake pe ood g oups o he consume , u he de elopmen o guide-
lines is needed. In his s udy, he de elopmen o he DDG by B ink
e al. (2019) was conside ed as a e e ence. The de ailed desc ip ion o
he me hodology o he es ima ion o he ecommended a e age
daily in ake pe ood g oup and oods u was displayed in Supplemen-
a y Ma e ial 1 (Tables SM1.1-SM1.11).
2.1.2.2. New No dic Die - NND. Inspi ed by he MD, NND eme ged in 2004
wi hin he Danish p ojec OPUS (Op imal well-being, De elopmen and
Heal h o Danish child en h ough a heal hy New No dic Die ) unde
he p inciples o heal h, gas onomic po en ial, No dic iden i y and sus-
ainabili y (Jensen and Poulsen, 2013;Mel ze e al., 2019;Mi h il e al.,
2012). The NND is a heu is ic concep ha combines he FBDGs o he
fi e No dic coun ies ha collabo a ed on he long- e m No dic Nu i ion
Recommenda ions wi h ypical p oduc s om he No dic egions
(Mel ze e al., 2019). Mi h il e al. (2012) ou lined hei basic guidelines:
i) mo e calo ies om plan oods and ewe om mea ; ii) mo e ood om
he sea and lakes; iii) mo e ood om he wild coun yside. Supplemen-
a y Table SM1.12 shows he a e age-daily ecommended in ake and
he ca bon oo p in pe oods u o New No dic Die .
2.1.3. Sou he n Eu ope
2.1.3.1. I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 (Linee guida pe una sana
alimen azione) - IDG. Fo mo e han h ee decades, guidelines o a
heal hy die ha e been a ailable o I alian consume s ( he fi s edi ion
was published in 1986). They summa ize echnical-scien ific in o ma-
ion ocused on he ood sec o and p ac ical ecommenda ions o
adul s o o ganize hei daily die in he mos balanced and a ied way
possible. The la es e sion o he Council o Ag icul u al Resea ch
and Economics (CREA) unde he auspices o he Minis y o Ag icul-
u e, Food and Fo es y was published in 2018 (CREA, 2019). I s p inci-
ples a e: i) s ay ac i e and main ain a heal hy weigh ; ii) consume mo e
esh ui s and ege ables daily; iii) ea b ead, pas a, ice and o he
g ains (p e e ably whole g ains) egula ly; i ) d ink plen y o wa e
daily; ) mode a e he amoun o a s and oils o seasoning and
cooking; and i) limi he consump ion o suga y oods, sal and alco-
holic be e ages. Fo de ails o he I alian case s udy design, see Supple-
men a y Ma e ial 1 (Tables SM1.1-SM1.11).
2.1.3.2.S a egy o nu i ion, physical ac i i y and he p e en ion o obesi y
- NAOS s a egy in Spain. NAOS, in line wi h he policies o he Wo ld
Heal h O ganiza ion (WHO) and he Eu opean Union, is a heal h s a -
egy o e e se he end in he p e alence o obesi y. I was launched
in 2005 and in 2011 i was consolida ed by he Law 17/2011 on ood
sa e y and nu i ion.
1
I s mo o is based on he ollowing s a emen :
Ea heal hy and mo e. In he la es upda e o he die a y ecommenda-
ions o he Spanish popula ion, he Spanish Agency o Food Secu i y
and Nu i ion (AESAN) encompassed bo h human heal h and plane a y
sus ainabili y (Nei a and Onis, 2006). The de ailed case s udy consid-
e ed o NAOS ega ding a e age daily- ecommended coun y in ake
was aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020).
2.1.3.3. Medi e anean die - MD. The MD is a adi ional plan -based die
ypical o he oli e-g owing egions o he Medi e anean basin
(T ichopoulou and Vasilopoulou, 2016), including F ance, G eece, I aly
and Spain. I has been designed as an In angible Cul u al He i age by
he Uni ed Na ions Educa ional, Scien ific and Cul u al O ganiza ion
(UNESCO) and as a heal hy and nu i ious die by he Food and Ag icul-
u e O ganiza ion (FAO), o i s p o en heal h benefi s (Azzini and
Maiani, 2015). I was associa ed wi h he p e en ion o a wide a ie y
o diseases such asca dio ascula (Ma ínez-González e al., 2019),neu-
odegene a i e (Ga dene and Caunca, 2018), inflamma o y diseases
(Casas e al., 2014), me abolic synd ome (Babio e al., 2009) and cance
(Men ella e al., 2019). The de ailed scena io o MD was aken om
González-Ga cía e al. (2020).
2.2. Assessmen o en i onmen al impac s, including quan ifica ion o wa-
e and ca bon oo p in
Food p oduc ion is a majo con ibu o o en i onmen al change:
mo e han one hi d o GHG emissions and wo hi ds o eshwa e
use come om he ood sec o (G osso e al., 2020). Hence, he e is a
b oad consensus ha esponses o hese sus ainabili y challenges
should be add essed simul aneously (Whi e e al., 2014). In his sense,
add essing he dynamics o WF and CF om a join app oach o global
die a y pa e ns has a ac ed global a en ion (Cambeses-F anco e al.,
2021;Cao e al., 2020;G een e al., 2018;Pai o i e al., 2015).
Fo he es ima ion o he CF, a li e cycle app oach was conside ed. As
he main objec i e o he s udy is o compa e die a y pa e ns, i is con-
enien o conside only GHG emissions associa ed wi h he p oduc ion
o ood ing edien s. Ac ually, he p oduc ion s age is by a he la ges
con ibu o o GHG emissions in FBDGs (Cas añé and An ón, 2017;
Es e e-Llo ens e al., 2019a). CF sco es o each oods u we e aken
om li e a u e. Depending on he sou ce, c adle- o- a m, c adle- o-
ac o y ga e o c adle- o-po ga e we e conside ed as sys em bounda y.
T anspo , household asks and was e ea men we e emo ed om
he sys em bounda ies due o fluc ua ions be ween da a om di e en
coun ies (Helle e al., 2013). The unc ional uni selec ed o his analysis
was he a e age daily die a y e e ence in ake pe indi idual. Fu he -
mo e, despi e a ia ions ac oss coun ies, he ecommended a e age
daily ene gy in ake pe day o a Eu opean ci izen was abou 2500
and 2000 kcal·pe son
−1
·day
−1
o men and women, espec i ely
(Eu opean Commission, 2018c). Conside ing ha en i onmen al impac
assessmen s o NAOS and MD we e e e ed o a Spanish middle aged
woman wi h a ecommended ene gy in ake o 2228 kcal·pe son
−1
·-
day
−1
(EFSA, 2017;González-Ga cía e al., 2020), he ene gy alues o
die s analysed in his s udy we e adjus ed o his alue o e e ence o
compa ison pu poses.
The WF was calcula ed ollowing he fi s wo s eps (goal and scope
and accoun ing) o he ou -phase o he Wa e Foo p in Assessmen
(WFA) me hodology (WFN, 2020). The WF ep esen s he amoun o
eshwa e used o p oduce a p oduc h oughou he p oduc ion cycle
1
h ps://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2011/07/06/pd s/BOE-A-2011-11604.pd (accessed
July 2021).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
3
o he supply chain (Mu hu, 2020) and is b oken down in o h ee com-
ponen s: g een ( ainwa e ), blue (su ace and g oundwa e ) and g ey
( eshwa e equi ed o assimila e he pollu an load) (Pal, 2017).
Mekonnen and Hoeks a (2011, 2012) explici ly es ima ed he h ee
componen s o WF o a m animal p oduc s, c ops and de i ed c ops
p oduc s by coun y. These wo scien ific pape s we e used as a e e -
ence da abase o he WF quan ifica ion o all oods u s included in
he die s, excluding fish and sea ood p oduc s. While o aquacul u e
p oduc s his me ic was calcula ed acco ding o he WF o hei co e-
sponding comme cial aqua eed (Pahlow e al., 2015), o wild fishe y
p oduc s a WF o ze o was conside ed (Blas e al., 2019;Ha is e al.,
2017). Clima e, soils and p oduc ion condi ions make i necessa y o
conside he spa ial a iable o WF es ima ion (Mekonnen and
Hoeks a, 2011, 2012). The me hodology desc ibed by González-
Ga cía e al. (2020) was ollowed in de ail o calcula e he a e age pe -
cen ages o domes ically p oduced and impo ed ood. The open-access
da abase Da acomex (Minis e io de Economia, 2019) and da a om he
USDA (2019) we e used o find de ailed in o ma ion on impo and ex-
po ade s a is ics o Eu ope and Ame ica, espec i ely. De ailed in o -
ma ion on expo olumes, impo olumes, main impo ing coun ies
and he pe cen age p oduced domes ically and impo ed pe oods u
and coun y is collec ed in Supplemen a y Ma e ial 2.
2.3. Assessmen o he nu i ional quali y o die s, including quan ifica ion
o he nu ien ich die (NRD9.3) and es ima ion o he heal h gain sco e
Poo die quali y is he leading cause o heal h p oblems wo ldwide
(Mille e al., 2020). The Uni ed Na ions Sus ainable De elopmen Goals
ou line a global commi men o achie e se e al nu i ion goals by 2030,
as well as, o ackle unde nu i ion and hunge (UNSD, 2017). In o de
o ad ance global p og ess on hese goals, die a y quali y me ics a e
needed o ensu e die a y di e si y and nu ien adequacy. The e o e,
he nu i ional quali y o die s was analysed using he NRD9.3 (Van
Ke nebeek e al., 2014) and he heal h gain sco e (Van Doo en e al.,
2014) in a complemen a y way.
The NRD9.3 is based on he p inciples o he Nu ien Rich Food 9.3
(NRF 9.3.) and eflec s he nu i ional quali y o a die . NRD 9.3 consis s
o a o al o nine quali ying nu ien s (p o ein, calcium, fib e, magne-
sium, po assium, i on, i amin A, i amin C, i amin E) and h ee
disquali ying nu ien s (sodium, sa u a ed a y acids and added
suga ) (Van Ke nebeek e al., 2014). The NRD9.3 sco e o a die was cal-
cula ed wi h Eq. (1).
NRD9:3¼X
i¼9
i¼1
nu ien i;capped
RDVi
−X
k¼3
k¼1
nu ien k
RDVk
!
100 ð1Þ
whe e nu ien
i
is he daily in ake o he quali ying nu ien i in he die ,
nu ien
k
he daily in ake o he disquali ying nu ien k in he die , and
RDV
i
,RDV
k
he ecommended daily alues o nu ien s i and k,
espec i ely. I is wo h men ioning ha an a e age alue was
conside ed when he RDV all be ween wo alues.
The ecommended daily alues o he nu ien s we e es ablished ac-
co ding o he a e age equi emen s (AR), popula ion e e ence in akes
(PRI), e e ence in ake anges (RI) and ole able uppe in ake le els
(UL) es ablished by EFSA (2021). The die a y e e ence in akes (DRI) is-
sued by he Food and Nu i ion Boa d o he Ins i u e o Medicine (NIH,
2021) and he Uni ed S a es Depa men o Ag icul u es (USDA) we e
also used o cases whe e EFSA did no gi e quan i a i e ecommenda-
ions ( o de ails, see Supplemen a y Table SM1.13).
On he o he hand, he heal h gain sco e de eloped by Van Doo en
e al. (2014) is also a nu ien -de i ed me ic, al hough i also includes
h ee ood g oups ( ege ables, ui s, and fish) and daily ene gy in ake
om ee suga s, sa u a ed and o al a y acids, and ca bohyd a es.
Like NRD 9.3, i con ains nu ien s o sco e, such as fib e, and nu ien s
o limi , such as o al a y acids, ee suga s o sodium (see Eq. (2)).
Fo his me ic, he nu ien goals epo ed by EFSA (2017),WCRF
(2020) and WHO (2020) was aken in o accoun , as can be seen in Sup-
plemen a y Table SM1.13.
Heal h index ¼
ð
g eg
200 þg ui
200 þg ish
37 þg ibe
30 þ6
g sodium
þ31:5
E% o al a þ10
E% ee suga þ9
E%sa : a
þ52
E%ca bohyd a es þ2228
kcal ene gy
Þ
100
10
ð2Þ
3. Resul s and discussion
3.1. Composi ion o he ood-based die a y guidelines
The daily ecommended in ake s ood a 1.92, 1.58 and
1.96 kg·pe son
−1
·day
−1
o DGA, DDG and IDG, espec i ely. Thei co e-
sponding die a y ene gy supply was 2229, 2226 and 2226 kcal·pe son
−1
·
day
−1
, espec i ely. Adjus ing he calo ic alue o hese h ee die s o
2228 kcal· pe son
−1
·day
−1
, allowed he compa ison wi h he esul s o
González-Ga cía e al. (2020) o NAOS and MD. Mo eo e , a no maliza-
ion o he daily die a y in ake es ablished by Mi h il e al. (2013) and
used by Ulaszewska e al. (2017) in hei assessmen o die - ela ed GHG
emissions o NND was made in o de o include his die in he
benchma king wi h o he die s o 2228 kcal.
Di e ences in he con en s o plan -based and animal sou ce ood
can be ound be ween he No he n Eu opean, Sou he n Eu opean and
Ame ican guidelines. DGA a e pa icula ly ich in animal sou ce oods
(45% o he daily ecommended in ake) when he compa ison was
made wi h he No he n Eu opean die a y ecommenda ions (36%
and 34% o daily ecommended in ake o DDG and NND, espec i ely)
and wi h Sou he n Eu opean Die a y Guidelines (31%, 19% and 28% o
NAOS, MD and IDG, espec i ely). On he o he hand, MD was he
mos p edominan ly plan -based die (81% o he daily ecommended
in ake). Plan based- oods sou ces (including ui s, ege ables, pulses,
s a ch-based p oduc s, nu s and oils) we e also he main ocus o he
o he Sou he n Eu opean die a y guidelines, NAOS and IDG. The a e -
age con ibu ion o each ood ca ego y (%) o he a e age ecommended
daily in ake o he die s is shown in Fig. 1 ( o de ails, see Supplemen-
a y Table SM1.14).
3.2. Assessmen o en i onmen al impac s - quan ifica ion o ca bon oo -
p in
The GHG emissions o he DGA, DDG and IDG ood guidelines we e
2.98, 2.28 and 2.04 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
, espec i ely. Ou
esul s we e in line wi h hose epo ed o a ious ecommended
die a y pa e ns in Spain (NAOS), Medi e anean coun ies (MD)
(González-Ga cía e al., 2020) and he No dic Coun ies (NND)
(Ulaszewska e al., 2017). The compa ison be ween hedie a y pa e ns
waspe o med paying a en iononly o he p oduc ion s age. The e o e,
he addi ional s ages o dis ibu ion o wholesale s and e aile s, house-
hold consump ion, and ood losses and was e we e elimina ed om he
esul s epo ed by González-Ga cía e al. (2020). On heo he hand, he
CF o NND was adap ed o a c adle- o-ga e app oach conside ing he
a e age in ake epo ed by Mi h il e al. (2013) s anda dized o
2228 kcal acco ding o he me hodology de ailed in Ulaszewska e al.
(2017). Be e ages and daily allowance we e disca ded om he die a y
composi ion o NND de ailed by Mi h il e al. (2013). To a oid inconsis-
encies in he compa ison, he same da a sou ces we e used o he es i-
ma ion o he GHG emissions o each oods u in all he die s analysed
(see Supplemen a y Tables SM1.1-SM1.12). Despi e he igo o he
s udy, and e en aking in o accoun his assump ion is conside ed be e
o compa ison pu poses, i may mean a sligh de ia ion o he esul s be-
cause he same LCA s udies conside ed by González-Ga cía e al. (2020)
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
4
we e used and mos o hem ake Spain as he e e ence loca ion ins ead
o conside ing a global pe spec i e.
As can be seen in Fig. 2, DGA had he highes CF (2.98 kg
CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) o he six die a y pa e ns. The CF o he DGA
was abou 1.5 imes highe han ha o he IDG, he coun y wi h he
lowes GHG emissions (2.04 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)and1.3 imes
highe han ha o MD (2.21 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
), he second
lowes CF. The GHGemissions p ofiles o he No he n Eu opean die a y
pa e ns we e e y simila .
Animal ood sou ces accoun ed o 80% o CF o DGA, 69% and 61%
o DDG and NND, 58% o IDG and MD, and 70% o NAOS. Dai y p od-
uc s we e esponsible o he highes emissions o he ood-based die-
a y pa e ns in he h ee egions analysed, wi h he la ges associa ed
CF in DGA (1.19 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) as can be seen in
Supplemen a y Tables SM1.15. In gene al, mea was he second ood
ca ego y wi h he la ges impac on global wa ming (be ween a ange
o 12% o GHG emissions o IDG and 34% o GHG emissions o DGA).
S a ch-based p oduc s also had a significan ly impac in GHG emissions
o all he na ionally ecommended die s, pa icula ly o NND (0.45 kg
CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−
1) and IDG (0.41 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
).
Fo all he FBDGs he numbe o s a ch-based p oduc s consumed
daily is high in compa ison wi h o he ood ca ego ies. The inclusion
o wholeg ain ce eals in he NND scena io and ce eal b eak as in IDG
explains he high CF esul s in his ca ego y o his wo FBDGs. The
highes fish and sea ood in ake in NAOS in compa ison wi h he o he
FBDGs would esul in a mo e significan CF in his ood ca ego y
(0.33 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). AECOSAN ecommends he high in-
ake o fish in NAOS due o i s g ea p o ein ichness and because i p o-
ides omega-3 a y acids and o he essen ial nu ien s (Nei a and Onis,
2006). Fig. 3 shows he b eakdown o CF among ood ca ego ies.
Fig. 1. Con ibu ion o each ood ca ego y (%) o he a e age daily ecommended o No he n Eu ope (Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 -DDG, New No dic Die - NND), Sou he n Eu ope
(Medi e anean Die - MD, Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines o
Ame icans 2020–2025 - DGA.
Da a o MD, NAOS and NND we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020),Ulaszewska e al. (2017) and Mi h il e al. (2013).
Fig. 2. Ca bon oo p in (kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) o No he n Eu ope (Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 -DDG, New No dic Die - NND), Sou he n Eu ope (Medi e anean Die - MD,
Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans 2020–2025 - DGA.
Da a o MD, NAOS and NND we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020),Ulaszewska e al. (2017) and Mi h il e al. (2013).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
5

On he o he hand, he GHG emissions de i ed om he ui and
ege able ca ego ies ha could be a ibu ed o he coun y's die a y
ecommenda ions anged om 7% o CF in DGA (0.19 kg
CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) o 14% o CF in MD (0.32 kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·
day
−1
). The g ea po en ial o d i e up he GHG emissions a ibu ed o
dai y and mea p oduc s was no jus ified based on hei ecommended
amoun s in he na ion-specific die s. Consump ion o mea anges om
2% o he o al daily- ecommended in ake (g·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)inIDG
o 5% in DGA. Mo eo e , e en hough dai y p oduc s we e consumed
in la ge p opo ions in he na ionally ecommended guidelines, hei
quan i a i e ecommenda ions we e s ill lowe han hose o ui s
and ege ables oge he . These gene al ends can be explained wi h
he ac ha animal-based ood p oduc ion is mo e ca bon in ensi e
han plan -based ood p oduc ion, singula ly o uminan s (Helle
e al., 2018;Pe o ic e al., 2015).
3.3. Assessmen o en i onmen al impac s- quan ifica ion o he wa e oo -
p in
The WF a ied depending on he coun y-specific ecommended
die , al hough simila ends could be obse ed o all he coun ies
analysed. Rega ding he h ee na ionally ecommended die s analysed
in his s udy, he die a y WF was 2583, 2309 and 1760 L·pe son
−1
·-
day
−1
o DGA, DDG and IDG, espec i ely. Fo compa ison wi h NAOS
and MD he WF ela ed o ood was e and losses was emo ed om
he alue p o ided by González-Ga cía e al. (2020). The e we e consid-
e able di e ences in heWFs o ood-based die a y pa e ns in he e e -
ence coun ies as can be seen in Fig. 4. NAOS and MD showed highe
WFs (3181 and 2826 L pe capi a and day, espec i ely) han IDG,
DDG and DGA (1760, 2309 and 2583 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
, espec i ely).
Then, o make he compa ison o he WF o hese h ee die s be ween
Fig. 3. B eakdown o ca bon oo p in (kg CO
2
eq·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) be ween ood ca ego ies o No he n Eu ope(Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 -DDG,New No dic Die - NND), Sou he n
Eu ope (Medi e anean Die - MD, Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines
o Ame icans 2020–2025 - DGA.
Da a o MD, NAOS and NND we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020),Ulaszewska e al. (2017) and Mi h il e al. (2013).
Fig. 4. Wa e oo p in (L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) o No he n Eu ope (Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 -DDG), Sou he n Eu ope (Medi e anean Die - MD, Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion,Phys-
ical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans 2020–2025 - DGA.
Da a o MD, NAOS we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
6
hem and wi h NAOS and MD, i is in e es ing o check he b eakdown
o he WF be ween ood ca ego ies shown in Fig. 5.
Fo he DDG, he WFs o ui s and ege ables we e lowe
(103 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) han o he es o FBDGs mainly due o hei
lowe con ibu ion o he ecommended a e age daily in ake. On he
o he hand, al hough dai y p oduc s con ibu ed in a high p opo ion o
daily in ake in DDG compa ed o NAOS, MD and IDG, i s associa ed WF
(354 L·pe son
−1
·day
−
1) was also lowe han ha o hem. Simila ly,
he compa a i e analysis o o al mea in ake could no accoun o he
di e ences in mea - ela ed WF o DDG (248 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
), MD
(311 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) and NAOS (422 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). The a io-
nale behind hese esul s is ha ma ked di e ences we e obse ed be-
ween he na ional WFs o he e e ence coun ies o milk (mos
ep esen a i e i em in he dai y ood ca ego y) bee , po k and chicken.
Acco ding wi h Mekonnen and Hoeks a (2010) local clima e, soil
condi ions, da a on i iga ion and he ela i e occu ence o he di e en
p oduc ion sys ems (g azing, mixed and indus ial) explains he
di e ences ega ding he co esponding WF o each e e ence coun y.
By a , in DGA he la ges con ibu ion o he o al WF comes om
dai y p oduc s (790 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). Howe e , NAOS leads he
anking in e ms o he WF associa ed wi h his ood ca ego y. Al hough
he con ibu ion o milk o o al die a y in ake was much highe in he
DGA han in NAOS, he Spanish WF o milk was a alue 2.2 g ea e
han ha o Ame ica, acco ding wi h he s udy o Mekonnen and
Hoeks a (2010), who conside ed he di e en p oduc ion sys ems
and eed composi ion pe animal ype and coun y. On he o he hand,
DGA ep esen ed he coun y wi h he highes mea - ela ed wa e im-
pac (629 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). The high pe capi a bee consump ion
in he Ame ican guidelines and i s associa ed wa e demand explain
he high WF alues o bee . On he o he hand, oils and a s WF o
DGA (118 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) was lowe han o he o he die a y pa -
e ns. The la ge a iabili y was due o he ac ha , in he DGA, oli e oil
was subs i u ed by soybean oil, wi h a lowe WF in USA han oli e oil in
Spain, The Ne he lands o I aly (Mekonnen and Hoeks a, 2011).
Rega ding he I alian case s udy, we ound ha he mea ca ego y had
a ela i ely small WF (150 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). Based on he IDG, high
le els o whi e mea consump ion we e obse ed wi h a lowe WF han
ed mea (Mekonnen and Hoeks a, 2010). Finally, he low WFs o oils
and a s in I aly (250 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) we e indica i e o lowe oli e
oil consump ion ollowing I alian ecommenda ions (23 g·pe son
−1
·
day
−1
) compa ed o he FBDGs o he o he oli e-g owing egions, MD
(45 g·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)andNAOS(40g·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). In addi ion,
he na ional I alian WF o oli e oil was less han ha o he
Ne he lands and Spain (Mekonnen and Hoeks a, 2011).
O e all, mea , dai y p oduc s, oils and a s and s a ch-based p oduc s
we e he majo con ibu ing ood g oups o WF o he Eu opean and
Ame ican die a y ecommenda ions. Dai y p oduc s we e he main com-
ponen so o alWFso NAOS(964L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)(González-Ga cía
e al., 2020), IDG (470 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) and DGA (790 L·pe son
−1
·
day
−1
). Howe e , oils and a s we e dominan in he die a y WFs o
DDG (883 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) and MD (776 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
).
S a ch-based p oduc s we e also majo oods con ibu ing o he WF o
all he die a y guidelines ( anging om 11% o o al WF in NAOS o 23%
o o al WF in IDG).
3.4. Assessmen o nu i ional quali y o die s - nu ien ich die (NRD9.3)
and heal h gain sco e
Supplemen a y Table SM1.16 in he Supplemen a y Ma e ial 1
shows he nu ien in ake o each FBDGs. These alues we e ob ained
conside ing he amoun o each oods u and i s nu i ional in o ma ion
(see Supplemen a y Ma e ial 2). The analysis o nu i ional quali y o-
cused on he analysis o quali ying nu ien s, disquali ying nu ien s,
and ood ca ego ies included in he heal h gain sco e. The esul s o
Fig. 5. B eakdown o wa e oo p in (L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) be ween ood ca ego ies o No he n Eu ope (Du ch Die a y Guidelines 2015 -DDG), Sou he n Eu ope (Medi e anean Die -
MD, Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans 2020–2025 -
DGA.
Da a o MD and NAOS we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
7
his nu i ional compa ison we e used o be e in e p e a ion o he
NRD9.3 and he heal h gain sco e o he FBDGs.
Rega ding he quali ying nu ien s, all he die s epo ed an in ake o
p o ein, fib e, i amin A, i amin C, calcium, po assium and magnesium
abo e he ecommended daily alues (RDV) (EFSA, 2021;NIH, 2021).
Dai y p oduc s and s a ch-based p oduc s we e he main sou ce o p o-
ein in all o hem. P o ein in ake came om dai y p oduc s in a ange
om 18 g·day
−1
in MD o 40 g·day
−1
in DGA and om s a ch-based
p oduc s in a ange om 20 g·day
−1
in DGA o 34 g·day
−1
in IDG.
Mea was also a significan sou ce o p o ein o DGA (25 g·day
−1
).
Fib e and po assium in akes came mainly om s a ch-based p oduc s
(be ween 10 g·day
−1
in DGA and 14 g·day
−1
in IDG o fib e, and be-
ween 689 mg·day
−1
in MD and 1391 mg·day
−1
in NAOS o po assium).
Fib e and po assium also came om ui s and ege ables o plan - ich
die s such as he Sou he n Eu opean die a y ecommenda ions and
om pulses in he case o beans- ich die s, such as DGA. Dai y p oduc s
we e also iden ified as majo con ibu o s o die a y po assium.
As o he o he elemen s, he main i on con ibu ions came mainly
om s a ch-based p oduc s in gene al (be ween 4 mg·day
−1
in DGA o
14 mg·day
−1
in DDG), and om ce eal-based p oduc s (including ce-
eal b eak as ) in pa icula . In he case o he IDG, blue fish (s iped
Venus) and molluscs (clams) also a ec ed he i on in ake a io
(4 mg·day
−1
o i on om fish and sea ood in IDG). On he o he hand,
s a ch-based p oduc s we e he majo sou ce o magnesium o all he
die s ( anging om 75 mg·day
−1
in DGA o 179 mg·day
−1
in DDG), ex-
cep o DGA, o which beans we e he main die a y sou ce ich in mag-
nesium (101 mg·day
−1
).
As o i amins, he amoun o peppe in he die can esul in sub-
s an ial alues o i amin C. The e o e, he highes in ake le els o i a-
min C we e epo ed o Sou he n Eu opean die a y guidelines (266,
380 and 270 mg·day
−1
o IDG, MD and NAOS, espec i ely). O he -
wise, he a ainmen o adequa e amoun s o i amin A in he die s
analysed was s ongly associa ed wi h be a-ca o ene, he main nu ien
in ca o s. The die iches in i amin A was he MD die
(1557 μg·day
−1
). Finally, calcium in ake le els we e also highe han
calcium equi emen s. The highes in ake le els co esponded o he
DGA (1604 mg·day
−1
), and he lowes o he IDG (981 mg·day
−1
),
which can be explained by compa ing he ecommended in ake o
dai y p oduc s in DGA and MD.
Fo he las quali ying nu ien ( i amin E) no all he die a y pa -
e ns eached he a ge le els. Acco ding o he DDG, IDG and NAOS
guidelines, a ci izen would no consume enough i amin E on a e age
o mee hei needs (EFSA, 2021). Plan -based oils ( anging om
2 mg·day
−1
in NND o 5 mg·day
−1
in MD) and nu s ( anging om
1mg·day
−1
in IDG o 4 mg·day
−1
NND) we e he bes die a y sou ces.
Fo nu ien s associa ed wi h ad e se heal h e ec s, added suga s me
he limi a ions in all die a y pa e ns. Howe e , sa u a ed a s, ob ained
mainly om bo h animal a s (e.g., cheese, bu e ) and ege able oils
(e.g., oli e oil), exceeded die a y equi emen s in DGA. NND, DDG and
DGA also exceeded he ecommended daily in ake o sodium (EFSA,
2021).
Fo he h ee ood g oups included in he heal h gain sco e ( ege a-
bles, ui s and fish) (VanDoo en e al., 2014), ege ables and ui s con-
sumed we e highe han he baseline alues (WHO, 2003) o all he
die a y pa e ns. E en he quan i y o ui s and ege ables exceeded
he ecommended amoun o all o hem, di e ences be ween die s
could be obse ed. The ege able and ui supply o he Sou he n
Eu opean ecommenda ions we e highe han o No he n Eu opean
ecommenda ions. The a ionale behind his finding is ha he A lan ic
egion is cha ac e ised by a wide a ailabili y and a culina y adi ion o
ege ables and ui s (Es e e-Llo ens e al., 2019b). Rega ding fish in-
ake, B ink e al. (2019) se 100 g/week o fish as a minimum es ic ion
and 125 g/week as a maximum in ag eemen wi h K omhou e al.
(2016). The e o e, DDG was he only one who did no mee he die a y
ecommenda ions o fish consump ion (Van Doo en e al., 2014).
Finally, heassessmen o nu i ional quali y wascomple ed by com-
pa ing he NRD 9.3 and he heal h gain sco e o he di e en FBDGs. As
canbeseeninFig. 6, MD clea ly had he highes NRD 9.3 (477) and
DDG
DGA
IDG
MD
NND
NAOS
Fig. 6. Compa ison be weenNRD9.3 and heal h gain sco e o No he n Eu ope (Du chDie a y Guidelines2015 -DDG, New No dic Die - NND), Sou he nEu ope(Medi e anean Die - MD,
Spanish S a egy o Nu i ion, Physical Ac i i y and he P e en ion o Obesi y -NAOS and I alian Die a y Guidelines 2018 - IDG) and Die a y Guidelines o Ame icans 2020–2025 - DGA.
Da a o MD, NAOS and NND we e aken om González-Ga cía e al. (2020) and Ulaszewska e al. (2017).
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
8
heal h gain sco e (178). IDG and NAOS also showed good esul s o
NRD9.3 (455 and 428) and he heal h gain sco e (146 and 159). The
NND guidelines had a simila alue o NRD 9.3 (444) as he Sou he n
Eu opean Die a y ecommenda ions, bu i did no show a clea co ela-
ion wi h he heal h gain sco e, which was lowe compa ed o hem
(119), mainly due o he low amoun o ege ables and ui s. The low-
es o e all heal h sco es we e o DGA (NRD9.3 - 391 and heal h gain
sco e –116) and DDG (NRD9.3 –407 and heal h gain sco e –97).
These esul s can be explained conside ing he low con en o ege a-
bles, ui s, fib e in ake and fish in DDG and he high con en o sa u-
a ed a y acids and sodium in DGA, despi e ollowing sani a y
ecommenda ions. Bo h, DDG and DGA, should adop ed he o he
FBDGs o imp o e hei nu i ional p ofile.
3.5. Compa ison o he esul s wi h li e a u e da a
The findings o his s udy o CF o DDG, IDG and DGA a e in ag ee-
men wi h o he s a ailable in he li e a u e. Conside ing he same sys-
em bounda ies, ou esul o CF o DDG (2.28 kgCOeq·day
−1
)and
DGA (2.98 kgCO
2
eq·day
−1
) was conside ably lowe han ha
epo ed by Ko acs e al. (2021) (2.86 and 3.83 kgCO
2
eq·day
−1
o
DDG and DGA espec i ely).
The di e ence is mainly ela ed o he ac ha he GHG emissions
es ima ed by hem no only ocused on an ea lie e sion o he DGA
(USDA and HHS, 2015), bu also includes GHG emissions om
ecommended daily disc e iona y calo ies (a ound 0.43 and 0.52
kgCO
2
eq·day
−1
o DDG and DGA, espec i ely, conside ing a calo ic in-
ake o 2000 kcal·pe son
−1
·day
−1
). Ano he eason behind hese di -
e ences is ha while Ko acs e al. (2021) used he da abase o Food
Impac s o he En i onmen o Linking do die s (da aFIELD) (OECD-
FAO, 2018) as a sou ce o he en i onmen al impac da a, we used
he same pee - e iewed jou nal a icles as González-Ga cía e al.
(2020) wi h he main objec i e o conduc ing compa a i e esea ch.
On he o he hand, he IDG o heal hy ea ing is based on he well-
known MD model. The e o e, hei CF was in line wi h hose ound in
heli e a u e o MD.Asanexample,Cas añé and An ón (2017) p o ided
he o al GHG emissions o he MD by designing weekly menus. They es-
ima ed a CF o 2.06 kgCO
2
·pe son
−1
·day
−1
o he ood p oduc ion
s age, excluding ood was e om he sys em bounda ies. This alue was
e y simila o he one calcula ed o IDG (2.04 kgCO
2
·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)
and o he o he MD alue aken in his s udy as a basis o compa ison
(2.21 kgCO
2
·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)(González-Ga cía e al., 2020).
The compa ison in e ms o WF showed he benefi s o ollowing he
FBDGs o he ansi ion o a ai and e ficien use o eshwa e e-
sou ces. Ou esul s ega ding WFs o DGA (2583 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
),
DDG (2309 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
) and IDG (1761 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
)
we econside ably lowe han hose co esponding o he “a e age”pa -
e ns globally. Acco ding o he sys ema ic e iew and me a-analysis by
Ha is e al. (2020), he a ailable e idence sugges ed ha o al WF o
he a e age die a y pa e ns was 3227 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
o Eu ope
and 2617 L·pe son
−1
·day
−1
o No h Ame ica.
In e ms o nu i ional quali y, he heal h gain sco e o DDG (97)
and IDG (146) we e consis en wi h he p e ious ecommended DDG
sco e (105) (Heal h Council, 2006) and wi h a basic MD (122) (Van
Doo en e al., 2014). The Ame ican heal h gain sco e (116) was compa-
able o he o al sco e o a egan die (118) (Van Doo en e al., 2014).
The NRD9.3 was no di ec ly compa ed o alues epo ed in he li e a-
u e due o a iabili y be ween he ecommended daily alues se de-
pending on he s udy and di e en decisions ega ding he limi a ion
o nu ien s o e e ence in ake le els. In o de o make a use ul compa -
ison, NRD9.3 was calcula ed using he a e age daily nu ien in akes o
he MD, egan and he A lan ic die es ablished by Cas añé and An ón
(2017) and Es e e-Llo ens e al. (2019a) wi h he conside a ions
aken in his s udy. The NRD9.3 o IDG (455) was in line wi h he
alue o MD ecalcula ed ollowing he esul s o Cas añé and An ón
(2017) (477). Howe e , i was lowe han he sco es o he egan
die (584) and he A lan ic Die (550). The NRD 9.3 sco es o DGA
(391) and DDG (407) we e lowe han he co esponding sco es o
hese h ee die s.
3.6. Up-scalabili y o he ou comes
The need o deepen he in eg a ion o di e en sus ainabili y
domains in FBDGs is a ecen issue ha should be add essed by go e n-
men s, in e na ional o ganiza ions and he ood indus y. The me hod-
ology p oposed in his pape o fi e FBDGs in No he n and Sou he n
Eu ope and Ame ica, can be scalable o he inclusion o sus ainabili y
concep s in FBDGs in o he egions o he wo ld wi h o he cul u al a-
di ions and ypical oods. Fu he mo e, heapp oach p esen ed he e can
also be ex ended o he e alua ion o o he die a y ends ha a e no
coun y-specific bu widely sp ead, such as o example he popula
A kins die o he Sou h Beach die .
A mul ile el da abase wi h en i onmen al indica o s (such as ca -
bon and wa e oo p in ), as well o he me ics (nu i ional, socioeco-
nomic and heal h- ela ed), based on a s anda dized me hodology like
he one desc ibed he e o FBDGs o anywhe e would be a good s a ing
poin o achie e he Sus ainable De elopmen Goals in he ood sec o .
Sha ing in o ma ion h ough simple indica o s would ans e he bes
ea u es om one FBDGs o ano he , wi hou o ge ing he cul u e o
each coun y o egion.”
3.7. Resea ch limi a ions
Unde s anding he limi s o his s udy is ele an o a co ec in e -
p e a ion o he esul s. The la ge a ie y and geog aphy o he da a
om he pee - e iewed jou nal a icles on ood li e cycle assessmen
consul ed could a ec he esul s. Besides he high a iabili y, we ha e
assigned a single ca bon oo p in o each ood i em. The di e si y o
ood i ems in ol ed in he FBDGs is oo la ge and he unce ain y o
he ca bon oo p in o each ood is unknown o us. The e o e, we can-
no p o ide a eliable and aluable unce ain y analysis on he die a y
ca bon oo p in . Mo eo e , as he main objec i e o his s udy is he
compa ison be ween di e en die a y guidelines, p io i y has been
gi en o heuse o he same LCA o he same ood in all he FBDGs, lea -
ing geog aphical conside a ions and, consequen ly, local ag icul u al
p oduc ion me hods in he backg ound.
The sca ce in o ma ion o he es ima ion o WF o non-aquacul u e
fish species could also p oduce a sligh de ia ion in he esul s. Mo e-
o e anspo , ood losses and ood was age along he ood supply
ha e no been aken in o accoun , which may unde es ima e he esul s
in absolu e e ms, bu no o compa ison pu poses. Finally, he ecom-
mended minimum and maximum daily alues in he nu ien p ofiles
we e mos ly aken om Eu opean e e ences (EFSA, 2021), wi hou ak-
ing in o accoun di e ences in he nu i ional assessmen o he DGA.
This fluc ua ion may be he causeo a sligh de ia ion in he NRD9.3 cal-
cula ion o DGA.
4. Conclusions
The in e ela ionships be ween nu i ion and en i onmen al pe o -
mance in FBDGs is cen al o he goal o achie ing en i onmen al sus-
ainabili y objec i es. Despi e emendous a ia ion om coun y o
coun y, as a gene al end, high adhe ence o he ecommended die s
was associa ed wi h benefi s on bo h nu i ional and en i onmen al in-
dica o s.
We ound ha he adhe ence o he DGA wasassocia ed wi h highe
ca bon emissions compa ed wi h ecommenda ions om o he high-
income coun ies in No he n and Sou he n Eu ope. The CF o he
DGA was mo e han 1.3 imes highe when he compa ison was made
wi h he mos plan - ich Eu opean die s analysed (e.g. IDG and MD).
These findings we eassocia ed wi h he highe quan i ies o dai y p od-
uc s and mea in DGA.
C. Cambeses-F anco, S. González-Ga cía, G. Feijoo e al. Science o he To al En i onmen 807 (2022) 150894
9